help with jobsearch?

[edb1984]

Hello Everybody
i know this forum is usually used for more high profile jobs and stuff but you guys have some good answers and hopefully you can help out?
i am looking at trying to get ANY work in Singapore for 6months to a year.
i am 24 years old - male and a British passport holder.
i am currently traveling and have been for the past 8 months but now i want to try to settle down for a year and just work.
my carer before traveling was that i was the store manager of a very large high profile high street outdoor fashion retail unit that took over 3.1 million Singapore dollars equivalent per year in the UK and i managed over 20 staff and a store of 7000 SQ ft, and i am currently on a sabbatical that was granted before the recession really kicked in thank god and i can return to a open position within the company in the next 2 years.
but! - i did not finish uni - i got offered a management position when i was about to start and decided to work my way up instead of getting a expensive degree to do the same thing - in the UK this is some what common - but in Asia as far as i have been told this is unheard of and hinders your chances of getting jobs / visa's and even Girlfriends! (true or not i am not sure but many people have said so!)

i am looking for any kind of work that will allow me to pay rent and live for a year - nothing extravagant just enough to get by and have some fun.

i would love some opinions on my options and if this is really a DO-able thing? or if in the current financial crisis i am just dreaming?

in short ;
i am young
i didn't finish uni
i don't speak Chinese or any other language apart from conversational french.
i do have 5 years of Retail Management experience of large store's
and i have enough money to live from for probably 2-3 months without a job. and a father who is willing to pay me to keep out of the UK "in a nice way".

what are my chances of finding a job that provides accommodation or pays enough for me to live from.

what are my visa options? is it fine to search for a job on my tourist visa then if i find a job how easy is the process of upgrading the visa to a work one and getting a work permit?

i know i can find work in many other places like Australia or even teaching English in other parts of SE-Asia but i have my mind set on Singapore.

thanks very much for any ideas!

Edward Bailey

Edward

[sundaymorningstaple]

In good time, possibly, but currently, I wouldn't hold my breath. Without qualifications and in the retail industry you would be hard pressed to find a job and if you did manage to find an offer, the employer would have a devil of a time placing a western expat in a position that pays peanuts and has plenty of locals who are qualified as well and regional traditional source candidates who will work for even less than that. (we're talking salaries less than half a month's rent. Course, we seen stranger things happen as well so who knows. But personally I feel you might be stretching it.

[Plavt]

in short ;
i am young
i didn't finish uni
i don't speak Chinese or any other language apart from conversational french.

Piece of advice for what it's worth; finish Uni if you can, possibly your only option is the OU now. Do try to learn Chinese or maybe even Japanese is a suitable alternative (both would be a good idea but rather burdemsome depending how much time you have to spare). I think it might improve your prospects after all as you know there isn't much economic progress here or almost anywhere else at the moment.

[edb1984]

in short ;
i am young
i didn't finish uni
i don't speak Chinese or any other language apart from conversational french.

Piece of advice for what it's worth; finish Uni if you can, possibly your only option is the OU now. Do try to learn Chinese or maybe even Japanese is a suitable alternative (both would be a good idea but rather burdemsome depending how much time you have to spare). I think it might improve your prospects after all as you know there isn't much economic progress here or almost anywhere else at the moment.

yes, i have toyed with the idea of going back to uni in the uk - it would not be that much of a problem as there are some very good benefits for mature students - but to be honest i have had so many friends go to uni in the UK and now they are working in jobs the same as me getting paid less for lack of experience (but i do have plenty who went on to specific jobs afterward but they are far outweighed)- it seams a strange twist of fate that at the moment in the uk they find it hard for lack of experience and i find it hard for lack of uni.

i think for the time being i will give it a go - i will be in Singapore for one week at the beginning of sept before going to Malaysia for 3 weeks to tie up some loose ends. i will have a walk round and try my luck and charm with some shops and hotels etc, but i think the response about "why when other people can be employed for pennies" is a good point i use to employ the same people at weekends at my shop - they are under 18 so i could pay them loads less - that's why if you ever go shopping for something that the assistant needs a brain for you should go in the week when the cheep staff are at school.
but being a good manager i stuck with the good old saying " you pay peanuts - you get monkeys" if that saying holds any water in the current financial crisis is another thing - so i would mix the shit with the strong, so maybe i will get lucky and they want some strong- but lets see if i fall on my feet and find someone who runs a outdoor shop who wants a guy who knows and loves outdoor technology and fabric properties far more than is healthy for him. i have a strong feeling im going to fall flat on my face - but i have nothing to loose - i have friends to stay with and a father who does not want me to have to stay back at his house when i get back home and is willing to pay me to keep out of the country so i will see how it goes.

but please if anyone has any ideas then let me know with a response - i have tried with some of the new casinos opening - who knows in two months time i could be serving cocktails to a rich Chinese businessman - or i could be on a airplane back to sunny shropshire!

thanks for the replys guys and girls but keep them coming if you have any info

Ted